Now At Your Seattle Library: Streaming Movies, Music

Come October 10, 15 iconic Cantonese movies from the 1950s and 1960s will be screened at the National Museum of Singapore. PHOTOS Hong Kong actor Patrick Tse in the 1966 Cantonese film “The Dreadnaught”. During the 1950s and 1960s, Tse was one of the most popular leading men in Cantonese film in Hong Kong. (Photo: Family of Ho Kian-ngiap, third son of Ho Khee-yong) Caption SINGAPORE: Come October 10, 15 iconic Cantonese movies from the 1950s and 1960s will be screened at the National Museum of Singapore. Featuring Hong Kong movie stars of yesteryear such as Patrick Tse Yin and Patsy Kar Ling, it is an 11-day showcase of movies made by Kong Ngee Film Company, which was started by two brothers from Singapore. “Singaporean brothers, Ho Khee-yong and Ho Khee-siang’s pioneering spirit and successful venture into motion picture production placed Singapore on the world map,” said director of the National Museum of Singapore, Angelita Teo. In a statement, the National Museum said, “Kong Ngee Company Limited had its humble beginnings in film distribution in Southeast Asia.” “The company went on to own cinema halls across the region, and in 1955, the Ho brothers made their first foray into filmmaking, under the Kong Ngee Film Company.” it added. Among the 15 films that will be shown in the retrospective are some that were shot in this region, such as “Moon Over Malaya”, which may offer a glimpse of scenes from the past. The movies, with English subtitles, will be screened at the Gallery Theatre at the National Museum of Singapore from October 10-20. Admission is by tickets, and more information can be found at the SISTIC website. – CNA/fa

Hoopla launched in full in May with 20 library systems. As of early September, there are about 220,000 people using the app, said Michael Manon, Hoopla’s brand manager. The goal is to reach 100 library systems by year’s end. Libraries have always been a source of audiovisual entertainment. A 2012 Pew Research Center survey found that among patrons 16 years old and older, 40 percent visited libraries to borrow movies. Another 16 percent borrowed music. In the Seattle area, DVDs and CDs of popular titles can have queues of hundreds of people waiting to check them out. E-books have been offered for years now. “Public libraries do not have the budgets to compete with Amazon, Comcast, and Netflix and will not be able to pay a premium for online content,” Blankenship said, adding that DVDs will continue to be the best way to offer popular movies. Updating and maintaining that physical collection takes time and money. It also means libraries have to pay for the media upfront, while Hoopla allows them to pay per time a title is borrowed. Those costs depend on the type of media and its release date, and range from 99 cents to $2.99.